Introducing Circumference: New Ways of Thought

Circumference: a blog by Annie Copland

All of the prophets agree on one thing: to paraphrase:

"To thine own self be true."

To be oneself, to be able to look in the mirror and see no one but oneself, to walk into the room being no one but oneself and wearing no one else's clothing but one's own. They make it all sound so easy! It most definitely is not. In fact it may be the hardest thing.

I myself have a favourite quote which paraphrases this idea - from Goethe:

"What has not burst forth from your own soul will never refresh you."

(It means looking inside your heart of hearts and finding that nugget of "you-ness" that actually makes you you, and not some insipid copy of someone else whom you admire or believe you should be...)

We all know places we have been where we've pretended to be someone else, worn someone else's clothes, borrowed someone else's dress sense, put on someone else's accent, said things just to "fit in", and - in short - not been ourselves. It can actually make us feel quite uncomfortable.

Let me suggest to you that one of the bonuses of getting older is that the true self finds it easier to make itself seen and heard.

You will know when you are being your true self when you step over the doorway to the home of a familiar old friend. The wine tastes sweeter. The food tastes that little bit more natural, more wholesome. The laughter is soft and natural and not put on. The water tastes more refreshing and you feel 100% relaxed and at ease with yourself. You know that you are 100% acceptable as you are, not as something they think you should be. No need to impress, no need to defend, you just are yourself.

Today we'll find happiness in life by being with more of those people who just "make us feel ourselves". Go on!